Rural Gone Urban: The Blog

Tennessee's Capitol city is known for it's rich history in country music and an abundance of education institutions, and, for the past two days, host city of the Ag Chat Foundation Conference 2.0.
By day attendees engaged in discussions regarding nerd topics like: search engine optimization, online strategies, community engagement. By night, those nerds used apps such as Nashville Live Music Guide to seek out [and conquer] local dives.

I flew into Nash[Vegas] a few days early because the lovely Kirby Smith (Twitter) [college friend turned Nashville local] graciously volunteered to give me a tour of the city.

A quick stop to the 12th street area had our hearts puttering through the rooms of Katy K's boutique.

The rooms of this house-turned-store are lined with Betsy Johnson throw backs, pearl snap originals and tiny-human onsies that are only appropriate because the TH have yet to develop the ability to read.

My return flight leaves for Oklahoma City today, and instead of bombarding you with the details of my trip I've made a must see list for you!

Nashville must [Top 2] list:

1. Ryman Auditorium
The stage lingers of performances by Bob Hope, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash while the architectural genius rings true to the tenor of the community. Although Nashville is home to a plethora of industries, one cannot deny the significance of the country music community.

2. Tootsies
Everyone who has stumbled down Broadway will confirm this is a priority. Lady Haze refers to Toosies in the their parody Biscuits and Gravy. The similarities to Stillwater, Okla. bars are abundants, however, the plexi-glass protected sharpie clad walls give a slight edge of 'street cred.' I highly recommend taking a seat at the bar in this establishment. Ten years from now you might say, "I saw {insert big name star in 2021} at Tootsies in Nashville!"

Today is the day I promised I would announce the first Rural Gone Urban giveaway winner {and make a life-changing announcement}.
I'm literally high on life today. I'm at the Ag Chat Foundation Conference 2.0 in Nashville. [also known as NashVegas]. Surrounded by nerds, a plethora of macbooks, ipads, smartphones, dumbphones and a crowd of marketers who understand the importance and significance of using social media platforms in strategic marketing.

To my left and right are individuals who understand connecting through social media and utilizing journalism through these platforms. Jodi (twitter, blog) and I [among many, many others] took nerd to a whole new level.

Winner
Whew. Winners. So, I decided to introduce old-school methods into selecting winners of the giveaway. I put each entry into a empty purse and drew a winner.

Opportunities you're not looking for, but opportunities that are so intriguing, you'd be remiss if you didn't allow yourself to explore a new path that will ultimately lead you on a path that more closely aligns with your {20-something-year-old-self's} career goals.

If you're not already picking up what I'm putting on the table. I'll lay it out there. I'm leaving my current position and moving on to a PR firm in Oklahoma City to work as a Travel Blogger and eCommunity manager.